County Gray Bar Menu

Resilient Ag Conference Now Open to Crop Advisers and Farmers

AMES, Iowa -- Upper Midwest crop advisers can earn continuing education credits for CCA certification through in-person and online attendance at the Resilient Agriculture Conference, Aug. 5-7, in Ames, Iowa. Farmers and crop advisers throughout the upper Midwest are encouraged to attend in person or online, as most conference sessions will be live-streamed, with the exception of the field activities.

The conference is co-sponsored by the USDA’s Sustainable Corn Project, which is working to identify ways to build greater resiliency into corn-based cropping systems, in response to the effects of climate change in the Corn Belt, such as a longer growing season and extreme rain events. Scientists with the Sustainable Corn Project have been collecting and analyzing data from 35 field sites in eight states, studying the results of various practices such as drainage water management, cover crops, and much more.

At the conference, the scientists will share their findings and a panel of farmers from four different states in the Midwest will talk about what they have done on their farms to build resiliency into their operations.

“With weather variability like we have had these past two years, it’s difficult to know when it’s time to plant corn. This and other changes we’re experiencing in climate patterns make it necessary to adopt management practices that provide the best results in all years,” said Garry Niemeyer, a farmer in Illinois and past president of the National Corn Growers Association. “A farmer concerned with risk management for his operation should consider attending the Resilient Agriculture conference, where all of these issues and many more will be addressed.”

During the conference, farmers also will participate in hands-on activities in the field to increase their understanding of the practices being researched and to learn how to use new decision support tools.

Registration, other conference details and information about the Sustainable Corn Project can be found at www.sustainablecorn.org. Registration is open through July 28.